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Russia has distanced themselves from the scandal and has taken no public position on the referendum, calling it an “internal" matter for Spain.

The Kremlin’s use of hacked information and distribution of “fake news” has previously sparked uproar after it was suggested that Russia helped assist Donald Trump in the 2016 US elections, Britain’s decision to leave the EU and the recent German elections.

Russian authorities have stopped all attempts to investigate those attacks.

After the official referendum website (referendum.cat) was shut down, Carles Puigdemont, pro-independence supporter, tweeted two new addresses for the site, however, the judicial order shut them down.

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They were then cloned with new addresses activated across Europe. As a result, sites including referendum.ninja were subsequently shut down.

Now supporters of the independence process have moved their focus to Russia and Central Asia after 15 alleged Spanish hackers were called to appear in court, accused of cloning the referendum website.

There have reportedly been 144 cloned versions of the independence website shut down to date, including the home page of the pro-independence civic association Catalan National Assembly (ANC).

In recent weeks, various Russian social media profiles have turned the Catalan crisis into a trending topic, with the aim, according to critics, of toppling the European Union.

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Catalonia prepares for vote on independence

The Spanish government has deployed thousands of police to stop the illegal referendum.

Local officials who are supporting the referendum are being threatened with stiff fines and jail.

The Australian founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, 46, is supporting Catalonia’s drive to hold a referendum vote on whether or not to sever links with Madrid and declare themselves a republic.

Assange said: “The situation that is taking place in Catalonia, its struggle for self-determination, the right to decide and vote, is the most interesting political situation in Europe right now.

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Spanish authorities call referendum illegal

“It will set a precedent as to the type of democracy that we will see in Europe and the entire Western world."

The Russian digital newspaper Vzglyad published a story about the Western media’s treatment of uprisings against Soviet domination in Eastern Europe during the Cold War, with the headline saying “Spain brutally suppresses the Catalan Spring”.